The Industrial Arts in SpainRiaño, Juan F. (Juan Facundo)
History
The Industrial Arts in Spain
Riaño, Juan F. (Juan Facundo)
Decorative arts -- Spain -- History; Pottery -- Spain -- History
One of the finest specimens of this artistic industry is the splendid
_reja_ which divides the nave at the royal chapel of Granada. Its
immense size has enabled the artist to carry out a splendid
ornamentation in the "plateresque style," combined with reliefs on a
large scale of figures of apostles and saints, terminated at the upper
part with a wide band of ornamentation of leaves and flowers, crowned
with a Rood, with the Virgin and St. John on either side. The splendid
balustrades and supports are forged with the hammer; the figures and
circular piers are formed of large plates, _repoussé_ and carved in the
most admirable manner, and give a good idea of the difficulties of this
work, which the artists of this time had overcome, long before the
various technical facilities of the present day existed. The
ornamentation of this _reja_ was originally gilt, and the figures are
painted in oils. It was made about the year 1520 to 1530; in the lock,
formed as a Gothic pinnacle, is a small inscription, "Maestro Bartolome
me fec." This same artist worked at Jaen and Seville. Cean Bermudez
calls him "sculptor and iron-master."
Two most important specimens of iron-work exist also at the cathedral of
Toledo, enclosing the _Capilla Mayor_ and _Coro_. The _reja_ of the
Capilla Mayor is 42 feet wide by 19 inches high; it rests on a pediment
of marble ornamented with masks and bronze work, upon which rises the
_reja_, which is divided horizontally by means of a frieze of
ornamentation, and this again vertically in five compartments. In each
vertical division there is a pilaster of four sides formed of _repoussé_
plates, carved with a fine ornamentation in the renaissance style, this
is again terminated with life-size figures in high relief of bronze. The
second compartment rises upon the band which divides it in an horizontal
sense; it follows the same decoration in its pilasters, and is
terminated by a series of coats of arms, torches, angels, and a variety
of foliage which finishes the upper part. Upon the centre, hanging from
a thick chain supported from the roof, is suspended a life-size Rood, of
admirable effect, which completes the decoration. In several spots there
are labels with mottos in Latin; in one of them appears the following
inscription, and the date of 1548 when this splendid work was finished:
"Anno MDXLVIII. Paul III. P. M. Carol. V. Imper. Rege. Joannes Martinez
Siliccus. Archipiscopus. Tolet. Hispaniae. Primat." The railings of this
_reja_ are silvered, and the reliefs and salient points gilt. The artist
who made it was Francisco Villalpando, a native of Valladolid; this
model was chosen among those of several artists, who presented their
plans in competition before the ecclesiastical authorities; it is
calculated that ten years elapsed before it was finally finished in
1548. Villalpando was greatly distinguished likewise as a sculptor and
architect. In 1563 a book was printed after his death of a translation
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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